How to Fix Windows 10 Taskbar Not Working

The Windows 10 is one of the most used operating systems in the world. Most of the computers in this world are running on the Windows operating systems, prominently the Windows 10. The Windows 10 is an excellent computer OS from Windows. But, the operating system is not just known for its elegant UI, but for the weird errors thrown at users at any time. If you are a Windows 10 user, then you might have face any strange error message while using the computer. One such common error is the Windows 10 taskbar not working.

The Taskbar is one of the most important parts of the Windows 10 System UI. Without the Taskbar, we cannot access the Start Menu, cannot see and switch between the opened programs. This is the most common issue faced by Windows 10 users. If you are the one who is facing the same problem while using the computer, then you should check out this post. In this post, I am sharing some tricks to fix Windows 10 Taskbar not working issue. Follow the tricks and methods I’ve shared in this post, and you’ll be able to solve the Taskbar not Working in Windows 10 problem.

Fix | Taskbar not Working Windows 10 Issue

First Method – Restart Windows Explorer Process

The Windows Explorer is one of the most important background process running on every Windows OS. The Windows Explorer process manages the Taskbar, Start Button, and Pretty much entire navigation in your computer. With Windows Explorer service running, you’ll not be able to access your Hard Drive partitions, Not able to Access Start Menu and the issue we are trying to fix, the Taskbar.

To fix Taskbar not working in Windows 10 problem, we have to restart the Windows Explorer process first. Sometimes, this process can crash due to memory problems or other issues. Restarting this process will solve the problem of taskbar not working in windows OS.

First of all, open the Task Manager windows. To open the Task Manager, Press “Ctrl + Shift + Esc” key combination on your keyboard. That’ll open the Task Manager window on your Desktop.

Otherwise, you can press “Ctrl + Alt+ Delete” key combination on your keyboard. Now, you’ll see the Security Options, where you’ve to choose the “Task Manager.“

In the Task Manager, you’ll see different tasks that are running on your computer. Find the Windows Explorer Process and click on it.

After clicking on it, you’ll see the “Restart” button on the lower-right corner of the Task Manager. Click on it to Restart the Windows Explorer Process.

The process will restart within few seconds. Now, check if the problem is fixed or not.

Second Method – Re-Register the Taskbar

In this method, we are going to use the Windows Powershell. The Windows Powershell is the command line tool, similar to the Command Prompt. The Powershell, as its name suggests is stronger than the command prompt to do the assigned tasks. In this method, we’ll try to re-register the Taskbar in Windows installation to make sure it starts working again. To Re-register the Taskbar with Windows Powershell, follow these steps carefully.

First of all, open the Windows Powershell. There are two most common ways to open Windows Powershell. The first way is to Press “Windows + R” key combination on your keyboard to open the Run window. In the Text box in Run window, type “PowerShell” and press ENTER.

Otherwise, you can open the Powershell by Right-clicking on the “Start” button and then choose “Windows Powershell (Admin).”

Now, you’ve opened the Windows Powershell, and you’re ready to proceed. Paste the following command in the Powershell and Press ENTER.

The command will take some time to execute. Once completed, you should be able to use the Taskbar properly. If not, then restart the computer to see if the issue is fixed or not.

If the problem is not fixed, then you should open the “AppData” folder from Run. Press “Windows + R” key combination to open the Run window. In the text box, type “AppData” and press ENTER.

Now you’ll see the AppData folder opened on your desktop. Go to “Local” folder and find “TileDataLayer” folder. Delete that folder from your system.

After that, restart the computer. This method should’ve successfully fixed the Taskbar not working issue.

Note – If you are not able to delete the “TileDataLayer” folder as mentioned in the step number 7, then follow these steps.

Open the Run window by pressing “Windows + R” key combination on your desktop.

In the Text field, type “services.msc” and press ENTER. It’ll open the Windows Services.

Now, find the service “Tile Data Model Server” and Stop the process. After stopping the process, try to delete the folder again.

Third Method – Run System File Checker

The third way is to run the System File Checker tool. This is the built-in tool for Windows users. With this tool, we can scan for the missing and corrupted files in our Windows installation. The reason behind Taskbar not working in Windows 10 can be the Corrupted files. The System File Checker tool find the corrupted files and then replace them with the cached version, helping you to fix any error caused by corrupted files. Here are the exact steps to Run System File Checker to fix taskbar not clickable in Windows 10.

Open the Command Prompt with Administrative privileges. You can open it by Pressing “Windows + X” key combination on the keyboard. Now, choose the “Command Prompt (Admin)” to open.

Also, you can open the command prompt by searching for it in Start menu. Right-click on the Command Prompt icon in Start Menu and select “Run as Administrator.“

Once you open the Command Prompt with Administrative privileges, paste the following command.

“sfc /scannow”

Paste the command without the Quotes (“) and press ENTER.

The Windows will run the System File Checker tool to find the corrupted files. The process will take few minutes to complete.

Once you see the completion dialogue, Restart the computer.

Now, you’ll able to use the Taskbar as it was before the problem arisen.

Fourth Method – Add a New User

What will you do if the taskbar not working in Windows 10 issue is user specific? Other users on your computer are not facing the matter while only you are facing it? In this case, you should opt for creating a new user account on the same PC. Don’t worry. Your data is not going everywhere when you create a new user account on the same computers. Here are the exact steps to create a new user account.

First of all, open the Windows Settings by pressing “Windows + I” Key combination on your keyboard.

In the Settings, find the “Accounts” and open the Accounts section. There, you’ll have to open the “Family & Other People” option from the left sidebar.

In this section, click on the “Plus” button which reads “Add Someone Else to This PC.”

Now, you’ll have to enter the proper information about the new users. Fill up the details like Name and password.

If you are asked to enter the Microsoft account of that particular user, just ignore it to avoid Email Login to your PC.

Now, you’ve created a new user account with desired username and password. Log out from your current account by pressing “Ctrl + Alt+ Delete” key combination.

In the security settings, click on the “Sign Out” to completely sign out from your computer. ]

Now, you’ll see all the accounts you’ve created on the PC for your family members and others. Choose the recently created account and log in with the Password.

Voila! You are into the new user account and hopefully able to use the Taskbar.

Final Words | How to Fix Windows 10 Taskbar Not Working

So, these are the ways to fix the infamous Taskbar not Working problem in Windows 10. Many people are facing this issue regularly. I hope this post has helped you to solve the problem within minutes and you are using the PC with Taskbar running properly. If your friend is facing the similar problem, then share this post with him to solve the issue immediately.